Miami Gardens, Fla. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills suffered a 30-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins in South Florida on Sunday, falling to a 6-3 record on the season.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the contest, starting Down after the defeat:
ARROW DOWN:
Everything about the offense
It was a struggle all afternoon for the Bills to really do anything on offense. The top rushing team in the NFL ran for just 87 yards. The passing game had no answers and the bills kept giving the ball away.
OC - Joe Brady
Brady did not have enough answers for what Miami was doing defensively. The Dolphins were keying on running back James Cook early, but Brady didn’t make the right adjustments to get him going. His early fourth down play call did not out his offense in position to succeed….and it didn’t.
Lack of wide receivers getting open
The trend and theme continued with wide receivers being unable to get open down the field. Outside of Keon Coleman‘s contested 35-yard catch for a touchdown, there was rarely anything down the field from a wide receiver until late in the game when Miami was more in a prevent defense. And that’s why the Dolphins were content with just trying to lock down Cook and the run game.
Brandon Beane/trade deadline disappointment
A report surfaced on Sunday morning that the Bills offered a first round pick and more for Dolphins excellent wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. That’s a clear indication that Brandon Beane felt an immediate need for a massive upgrade at the position. It’s been an issue all season long. It’s good that he tried, but coming away empty-handed from the entire day is tough.
Run game
The Bills came into this game as the top rushing offense in the entire NFL. The Dolphins were one of the worst rush defenses. Yet they pretty much shut Buffalo’s rushing attack down. The Bills ran for just 87 total yards and 4.0 yards per carry.
Offensive line
Any time a defense can make it that tough in your run game, plus put the QB under duress quite a bit, that falls on the offensive line and not winning enough one-on-one battles.
Sean McDermott and coaching staff/Bills not ready to play
We heard from several players in the locker room, including Josh Allen and Dion Dawkins, that they felt Miami “wanted it more” and the Bills were not ready enough to play. Sean McDermott has been excellent in his career keeping each game as a one week entity. But when that happens it falls on him and his coaching staff to do a better job to have their team ready to go the week after a huge win.
Josh Allen’s turnovers
There were times Josh had to put on the Superman cape and did everything he could to help his team. Then there were other times where he made massive mistakes, and for those he gets an Arrow Down. Specifically, his fourth quarter fumble after a 15 yard run, and his interception thrown in the Miami end zone. Allen finished 28-for-40 (70%) for 306 yards with a pair of touchdowns and the interception.
Max Hairston vs. Jaylen Waddle
Hairston did collect his second interception of the season on a deep throw, but he was also beaten cleanly by Waddle for Miami’s second touchdown, then beaten by him again later on a big play to move the chains.
Tackling
After a strong couple weeks, tackling returned as an issue, especially late in the game.
Run defense
The tackling problems contributed to an inability to shut down Miami’s running attack and then they were able to break a couple long ones. The Dolphins ran for 197 yards on 32 carries, averaging a huge 6.2 yards per run.
Explosive plays given up for touchdowns
Miami scored on a pass play of 38 yards, a running play of 59 yards, and another running play of 35 yards.
Third down offense
The Bills were only 5-for-15 (33.3%) on third down. A big reason the defense was gassed by being on the field so much. The offense couldn’t get first downs and stay on the field.
Turnovers
Buffalo turned the ball over three different times. A Josh Allen fumble. A James Cook fumble. And a Josh Allen interception. That’s how you lose a football game against a team you should beat.
Pass rush
Miami did a good job in the quick game so it wasn’t easy to get to the quarterback, but for the game the Bills did not have a single sack and only registered two QB hurries.
ARROW UP:
DE - Joey Bosa
Despite having a cast in his wrist, Bosa still dominated at the line of scrimmage at times, collecting four total tackles and two for loss.
P - Mitch Wishnowsky
Wishnowsky punted four times. Two of them pinned the Dolphins inside their own 20 yard line. He bombed one 61 yards and averaged 54.3 yards a punt.
Getting running backs involved in pass game
The Bills haven’t done a good enough job of throwing the ball to their running backs out of the backfield this year, but did a much better job of that on Sunday. James Cook had 5 catches for 24 yards. Ty Johnson had 2 grabs for 24 yards. That’s seven catches, on all seven targets thrown their way, for 48 yards.
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